Planners give options for Rocky Knob development

by Roger Mannon

Will it be the Trillium Trail? Or will it be Miller’s Way Farm? Or maybe the main feature will be a herd of bison?
The final configuration has yet to be determined, but residents of Floyd and Patrick County got an update on the proposed tourist development at Rocky Knob Tuesday morning at Chateau Morrisette.
Congressman Rick Boucher has been working on the project for several years, and in 2006 helped get a $1.2 million federal appropriation for the first phase of the development of a visitor attraction and trail system in the Rocky Knob area of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The development is intended to encourage tourism in Floyd and Patrick Counties.
“I’ve long had a goal of building a project at Rocky Knob to enhance the tourism economies of Patrick and Floyd Counties,” Boucher noted. The results of the federally funded study were presented at Tuesday’s meeting.
Steve Swartz, chairman of Blue Ridge Heritage, Inc., a non-profit group that serves as the legal entity for the project, said the meeting “means we’ve arrived at a milestone. We want to make sure whatever we do doesn’t mess up the area.”
Swartz said the study, conducted jointly by Virginia Tech and Clemson University, “is clearly head and shoulders over other studies. It is a comprehensive approach.”
Dr. Nancy McGhee, Associate Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Virginia Tech, said two proposals have emerged as the leading candidates at this time. One, designated the Trillium Mountain Life Visitor Center and Nature Trail, combines a visitor center with associated trails and a series of self-guided travel routes that would bring visitors out into the communities of Floyd and Patrick Counties. “It would provide opportunities for visitors to venture beyond the main transit corridors in order to have a true economic impact in the counties,” she said.
The second, Miller’s Way Farm Life Visitor Center and Trail, would focus on the area “through the lens of agriculture,” McGhee said. Visitors would experience the processes associated with local agriculture, from production to the end product, served at an on-site “slow food” restaurant.
Agri-tourism, a growing trend, would be enhanced by trails and routes that encompassed local farms. A woodland bison reserve was the third most popular of seven scenarios presented in the survey.
Dr. John McGhee (no relation), Geospatial Extension Specialist at the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at Virginia Tech, said the project would focus “on assets that already exist in the area.” He said that interviews and workshops in the area showed major areas of concern are “authenticity, sustainability, respect, positive economic impact, political sensitivities, target markets and programming tips.”
Dr. William Norman, Associate Professor of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at Clemson University, said a large segment of tourism prefers “guided wanderings,” and serendipity. “They are interested in local products and mountain life,” he said.
Total estimated costs to build the Trillium Mountain option range from $15 to $24 million. Estimated costs for Miller’s Way Farm range from $11 to $18 million.
Economic studies show tourism currently brings in about 132,000 visitors and about $9 million. Conservative estimates show a Rocky Knob project could add another $1.3 million and add about 25 new jobs.
Ralph Lutz, a member of the Rocky Knob Advisory Committee, said a decision could be made in the next six months on which project to build. “It might be one or the other. Or it might be both, or we might add in some additional elements.
“When the Blue Ridge Music Center was at the point we are now, it was another ten years before it was completed. So we still have a way to go.”